For the first time in several seasons we looked really good when in possession of the ball. Problem is for the first 50 minutes we had little possession. Falcons dominated the scrum (Wilson looked good) and the breakdown.

However we were 22-19 up at that point as we looked so dangerous ball in hand. For the last 30 the back row came into the game and we dominated possession. Scrums were still a struggle and thacker was poor throwing when he came on.

for Leicester Thompstone and Betham looked threatening. Catchpole did well but looked a tad uncomfortable on the wing in defence. Bell had an excellent cameo.

Feel a bit sorry for Catchpole he's playing pretty well and not done anything wrong but suddenly finds himself behind the twinkle toed Betham. I do quite like the idea of Loamano on the bench. He covers most the back line and brings plenty of impact when defenders are starting to tire.

I see Cockers is saying we're looking at some rugby world cup backs. Be interesting to know who we're talking to as the backs are looking pretty good at present.

Well the attacking play looks a hell of a lot better. Defence looks a bit iffy but we mostly seemed to struggled at maul and scrum where the six missing international front row players would have made a difference.

Thacker's try was pretty special. He's one hell of a player in the loose.

The attacking skill set shown are 100000000x better than what was last preseason.

Betham looks excellent in attack, Catchpole more comfortable ATM @ wing prob because less to think about, I rate him @ 13 but thought he was trying to hard to make something's at times in the first 2 preseason games.

I love how we can change our pack to suit our game plan

Defence looks like it is still a work in progress but it is a more aggressive approach to what we have seen.

Agree on the pack, we have some good options going into the season and seem to have purchased wisely. Shame Fonua is in the Tonga squad but not playing though.

The defence seems to be a pressing drift. It's not proving to effective but in the highlights you can see there's a lot more communication between the players even if the system isn't quite there yet. That's a good sign.

Catchpole just needs game time, he's got the carrying and defensive game but his passing and handling need a little work. Mayhem is the man for that and if he can get the game time experience on the wing whilst he's developing that'll help long term. He should be a capable squad player going forward.

He's such a terror in the loose that we just need to get him on the park as often as possible regardless of where it is!

If Croft is playing well and Fonau starts as strongly as hoped then I would be very tempted to give him a shot at 7 before O'Connor is back. McCaffery will start the first game but depending on how he goes I would like to see wee Harry get a shot I rate him that highly.

If we are picking a young team against Loughborough I wouldn't mind him getting a go at 7 there but with Owen also there it does start to get tricky.

Jacob Umaga, is that Mike's son and Tana's nephew if I remember correctly?

Also how is Fred jnr rated at the club? I seem to remember when he first joined the academy he was out fairly out of shape and a bit of the pace. I also seem to remember whispers at the time that Brian Tuilagi and him were largely in the set up due to their name rather than performances. Can't say I ever saw either play in order to comment personally however so maybe just outdated chinese whispers!

On the rest of the team I am happy to see Roberts getting a game at 12. I'd like Bryant to feature in the centres at some point but he may end up coming on at 10 from that squad.

Also interesting to see Beckett handed the captaincy. He impressed in the LV last season and is clearly very highly rated by the coaches.

I've seen Thacker bounce through tackles from bigger names than he did against Falcons. His pace and footwork make him hard to line up for a clean shot and because he's small people tend to hut him high which is often ineffective due to his leg drive and low centre of gravity. He often takes three or four to bring him down though he rarely offloads as it tends to be a mass gang tackle.

Agreed re Bryant in the centres. I still hold he is the future 12 the club needs. Creative, great step, defensively sound and outstanding handling. Needs to sort those hamstrings out.

Brian was the Tuilagi rumoured to be there on reputation. The rumour I heard was that he was kept on so his younger brother would stay in the academy long enough to progress as he's a front row prospect.

So with England, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa already out and Italy looking unlikely to qualify we will only be missing Ayerza due to RWC duty come the start of the season. Add to that O'Connor and Kitto due to the ITM cup.

Then we will still be missing Slater, Owen Willams, Morris, Manu and Benjamin due to injury.

Mulipola being back in training is excellent news but having Rizzo and Cole returning will ease the pressure on how rapidly we need him back.

How would we like to see the side for the first game managed? Do we rest the likes of Cole and Tom Youngs completely? Perhaps Ben Youngs will start on the bench with Harrison a strong alternative who has been with the side throughout pre-season.

Given Youngs will be first choice come the big games and ECC I feel he might do well to have a rest now. Not to mention his previous injury problems.

The more I think about it the more I'd like Cole to be given a rest as well if Logi is fit. Whilst performing solidly in the scrum until Saturday he has looked a shadow of himself in the loose and frankly a bit knackered.

I was hoping Cole would get a break for the Uruguay game this week but he's starting again. Balmain should be able to do a job vs LI with hopefully Logo alongside. Otherwise we could be in trouble as Brugnara doesn't seem to be a strong scrummager yet.

That's a blow with the RWC. Not to bad as Balmain and Logo are normally the sub reserves of choice and Cole will be back earlier than anticipated. Parr may be getting more game time than originally thought.

Having Goneva and Mulipola back will be a boost to the squad. Very much impact players we'd want against LI.

That's what it looked like on the highlights Welly. Hope Mauger has seen that and gives him a run out off the bench at the weekend. We're already playing with a distributor at 12 in Bai so he'd fit the game plan.

Does anyone know whats happening with the England chaps? Will they come back sooner for the clubs given they wont have to attend any post final media engagements now or will England hang on to them anyway?